William F. Harrah

He worked at various family businesses including a pool hall, a hot dog stand, a shooting gallery, and a bingo-style operation called the "Circle" or "Reno Game.

If one of the 33 players seated in a circle around the board matched a four-card sequence, he or she won, unless they were a shill and, working for the house.

When twenty-year-old Bill told his father he should get rid of the shills and put more money into the business, John challenged him to run the operation by himself.

Virgil Smith was the main financier and a partner in the operation, and also in the club that opened in 1938, called the Plaza Tango at 14 East Commercial Row.

[5] After a meeting with Nick Abelman, Bill Graham, and Jim McKay, Harrah waited to be accepted into the Reno gaming fraternity.

[citation needed] Eventually, Cal Custer, a respected ex-bootlegger and a long-time confidant of John Harrah, stood up for Bill.

Harrah also owned the Zephyr Cove restaurant past Cave Rock which offered slots and blackjack.

[citation needed] Some notable items of his collection were the two Bugatti Type 41s, the Phantom Corsair, two Ferraris and a pair of Jerrari Wagoneers.

In 1966 his Bugatti Type 41 Coupe de Ville won Best of Show at Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance.

[citation needed] Harrah died at the Mayo Clinic Hospital in Rochester, Minnesota, at the age of 66, during a cardiac surgery operation to repair an aortic aneurysm.

[18] The William F. Harrah College of Hotel Administration at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, which opened in 1967, was renamed in his honor in 1989, in recognition of a $5 million gift from his widow.

In 1966, Bill's third Tahoe Miss won five races, including the APBA Gold Cup, and was the national champion, driven by the late pilot Mira Slovak.